kekistani wrote:
Thankfully the Blue Wave is entirely non-existent. Once the November midterms have passed, Trump Republicans will assume the overwhelming majority and we will finally make true headway on immigration reform, health care, and... The Wall.
Please remember this post when the FULL #winning begins...
I agree that a 2010-style "wave" election seems unlikely (to me), if for no other reason than there isn't a black-ish guy in the White House to motivate people to get to the polls. I would expect the Dems to gain a few seats in the House--that's normal in a mid-term election. I will be somewhat surprised--not shocked or astounded, just surprised--if the Democrats re-take the House; but if they do, I expect their margin to be razor-thin, and I do not expect them to have a *working* majority in most policy areas. To get such a working majority, they'd have to have ~30 more seats than the GOP, and who sees that happening?
[I *would* be shocked if the Democrats took the Senate. I think the odds favor the GOP's picking up a couple of seats there.]
However, I disagree that the Trump GOP, even in the unlikely event of its achieving an "overwhelming" majority, will start making "true headway" on those policy areas. As pointed out by George Will (and others) above, Congress--and I fully include Democratic congresses--has largely abdicated its responsibility as one of the three pillars of our government. A Trump GOP would simply try to implement whatever the President asks for--but because he does not have a coherent vision of what he wants, the most they can hope for is piecemeal legislation. We might see patching, but not progress.